Sign head



Aug. 22, 1950 H. c. PFAFF, JR

SIGN HEAD 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 50, 1946 Aug. 22, 1950 c, PFAFF, JR 2,519,928

SIGN HEAD Filed March 50, 3 946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 22, 15 50 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 Claim. (Cl. 40--145) It is the object of this invention to provide a sign head wherein the sign frame consists of a single blank of material which is bent upon itself to present opposed spaced walls.

A further object of this invention is to provide a sign head which may be economically manufactured as a standard article of commerce, which may be readily provided with display plates to conform to the use to which the sign head is to be put. A further object of the invention is to provide a sign head which is practically tamperproof in construction.

These and other advantageous objects, which will later appear, are accomplished by the structure shown and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. wherein:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of a sign head I embodying my invention,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevational view taken on line 33 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view taken on line 44 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged elevational view taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 6 is an enlarged elevational view of spacer members employed in the construction shown in Fig. 1, taken on line 66 of Fig. l,

Fig. '7 is an enlarged elevational view of further spacer members used in the construction shown in Fig. 1, interposed between the sign frame and the sign post,

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view, partly in section, taken on line 8--8 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 9 is a bottom plan view taken on line 99 of Fig. 6,

Fig. 10 is a side elevational view taken on line lfil0 of Fig. 6, and

Fig. 11 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view, taken on line Hll of Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig. 2 of the drawings, the sign frame of my invention is made essentially of a single blank of material which is bent medially as at [5a to present opposed spaced walls 18 and I1, said walls being provided with rectangularly recessed panel portions 18 and I9 to receive the plates bearing the sign indicia. The bend IE1: is on a gradual curve with the spaced walls It and I! tapering downwardly toward each other and merging into a gradual bottom curve smaller than the bent top curve to appreciably space the side walls I6 and Il. The display or indicia plates 20 may be secured to the recessed panel portions l8 and 19 of the frame I5 by means of a suitable adhesive 2i or by any other desired or convenient expedient. The free ends 22 and 23 on the bottom curve of frame 15 are preferably interlocked which is secured to said sign post by any suitable means, such as indicated at 28 and which may be such as-are separable only by theuse of special tools',.to preclude tampering).

As shown in Fig. 1, the frame l5 may be se=- cured topost 26 by means of the bolt 29 passing a through the collar 21 and frame i5 and having a nut 36 engaging the lower end thereof and also engaging said collar. The other end of the bolt may be threaded into the tapped portion 33 of staff cap 3|. The stair cap 3| may be flanged as at 32 to embrace the frame medially. The closure crowns 24 and 25 are provided with stepped reduced portions 34 to receive the longi tudinal ends of the frame I5, said reduced portion 34 being provided with a recess 35 at the bottom thereof to receive the innermost free end 22 of the frame.

The invention is particularly adapted for use as a sign head for the display of messages above the eye level of the observerfor example, as a street sign, wherein the display plate 20 bears the name of the street above the eye level of passing pedestrians. To further facilitate the reading of the matter displayed on th plates 20, the walls [6, ll of the frame blank 15 are preferably downwardly and inwardly directed at an obtuse angle to the horizontal when the frame is vertically disposed, as indicated by the angle line 0 in Fig. 1.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the structure of my invention is adapted to b readily manufactured by the use of simple tools and dies and that it may be made as a standard article of commerce to which the display plates 20 may be readily aifixed to suit the special uses to which the sign is to be put. When the structure is used for the display of names of intersecting streets, a second frame blank 36 may be mounted on the post 26 in angular relation to the frame l5, as shown in Fig. 1; for this purpose complementary spacers 3'! and 38 may be interposed between the adjacent portions of The closure crowns may be forced-fitted.

The frame I5 is se-' frames I5 and 36 and spacer 39 ma be interposed between lower frame 36 and the collar 2'1v The spacers 3! and 38 may be provided with any desired or convenient interlocking means, generally designated in Fig. 6 as 4| and 42, to permit of the relative angular juxtaposing of said frames to conform to the use to which the sign is to be put. Said spacers are further provided with flanged portions 43 and 44 to receive the frames. Spacer 39 is provided with a flange 45 (see Fig. 7) to receive the frame 36. If desired, the spacer 39 may be of the same general construction as the spacers 31 and 38. It will be understood that spacers of any construction other than that shown in Figs, 6 and 7 may be utilized in carrying out my invention, within the spirit and scope of the invention; the spacer 39 may be formed integral with or separate from the collar 2'1, as shown in Fig. 8. The particular spacer structures shown in the drawings illustrate a few of many types of spacers which could be used with equal efficacy in carrying out the invention. If desired, the plates 20 may be dispensed with by impressing the. sign message directly onto the Walls t6 and ll of frame [5.

The blank [5 may, if desired, be made as a unitary blank of the structural features shown and described herein, but with no free ends 22 and 23, within the spirit and scope of the invention. This end may be attained for example, by extrusion of the blank to the form described.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent. is:

A sign blank made of a single piece of material 35 bent medially lengthwise on a gradual curve. with the side walls tapering downwardly toward each other and merging into a gradual bottom curve smaller than the bent top curve so as to appreciably space the side walls, said bent blank having open ends, indented panel portions on the side walls, means for interlocking the free edges of the blank in overlapped relation at the bottom of the curve, separate end closure crowns corresponding to the cross section of the bent blank, stepped in marginal flanges on said crown interfitting the open nds of the blank, said flanges being notched to receive the overlapped interlocking edges of the blank at the bottom curve, and means extending vertically through the bent blank to secure the same to a vertical sign post so the side walls of the bent blank define an obtuse angle to the horizontal.

HENRY C. PFAFF, J R.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 800,031 Travis Sept. 19, 1905 1,359,478 Adams 1 Nov. 23, 1920 1,602,892 Frank Oct. 12, 1926 1,712,355 Price May 7, 1929 1,780,373 Beuttell Nov. 4, 1930 1,840,915 Palmer Jan. 12, 1932 1,851,046 Horni Mar, 29, 1932 1,944,498 Crick Jan. 23, 1934 2,073,975 I-Iarnmar Mar. 16, 1937 2,285,735 McBride June 9, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 507,197 Great Britain of 1939 

